When Two Lives Meet
by The Immortal Doctor Reid
Summary: One hundred oneshots featuring the life of Ash and Cynthia, from the first meeting to becoming mistress and apprentice, to becoming lovers and beyond. Rayshipping.
1. Intoduction

When they first met, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was different, but to be fair the whole flaring aura when they touched thing was kind of a clue.

Cynthia knew from her lessons with her grandmother on Sinnoh history and folklore, that this wasn't exactly normal. It meant that they were connected, bonded somehow, but exactly how, Cynthia couldn't say.

She introduced herself and braced herself for the inevitible, "Oh my Arceus! T_he_ Cynthia Shirona is speaking to me! Can I have your autograph?", that she usually heard, but was pleasantly surprised when Ash simply told her to keep the Championship warm for him, not with arrogance, but with pure confidence, as his eyes briefly flickered to the ice-cream cone in her hand, than back to her face.

The ice-cream did look really good, she thought, and tasted even better, as she ran her tongue up the cone to catch a drop that began to melt. She was glad to meet someone who acted as if she was just another trainer, a feeling she felt in almost five years, it was refreshing, so she did the only thing she could do, she laughed.

She stopped, realising that he may have thought that she was mocking him, she hoped that he didn't. In the back of Cynthia's mind though, she felt slightly pissed off, she was Cynthia Goddamn Shirona, the Champion of Champions, dammit! Suddenly feeling the urge to show Ash... and his friends, too, just how strong she was, she accepted the challenge of the weird, angry, purple-haired kid.

As Garchomp destroyed her opponent's team, she subtly glanced toward Ash's group, enjoying the look of awe on hi... their faces. After healing Angry Purple Boy's pokemon, he left and Cynthia got talking to the group, until she realised she had to leave, before she left she told Ash something that she read on the wall of the ruins she was studying earlier, that seemed to resonate with her.

She told him that when two lives met, something is born. Neither of them realised at the time just how true her words were. And with that she left, her mind still on the young man with the pikachu on his shoulder.

Ash Ketchum hmm, she mused, she would definitlely have to keep an eye on him... er, that is to say, he looked like a good trainer and she wanted to see how far he went in the League. That's it, honest.

When they first met, Ash was fascinated by the blonde woman, although that may have been due to the way she was running her tongue over her ice-cream, which...inrigued him, for some reason

When he first heard of Sinnoh's female Champion, he pictured a battle-hhardened, old woman, around Agatha or Glacia's age, not a young woman who couldn't have been more than a few years older than him and so...well...beautiful.

Fighting down a small blush, he introduced himself in typical Ash Ketchum style, by stating his name, place of birth and desire to take her job, which got got a laugh from the blonde, that he noticed sounded like music. Ash cursed himself, he must have sounded an arrogant jack-ass, iike Gary.

Of course, Brock acted as Brock usually did in the presence of almost every human female, in other words, like a horny growlithe. Seriously Brock? Now, after many years of travelling with his friend, Ash had gotten used to this. Sure, it irriated him at times, but right now, it downright pissed him off and he had no idea why.

Pushing his sudden annoyance down, he watched with interest as Paul challenged Cynthia to a battle. Ash chuckled to himself. Didn't Paul know that they didn't just give the title of Champion away?

Sure, Ash might have battled quite a few people that he knew were out of his league, but to openly challenge a woman whose skill was on par with Lance or Steven, and according to most people actually surpassed them, having beating both of them when she was a mere sixteen.

He watched awe-struck, as Cynthia's garchomp effortlessly took down Paul's team, one after the other. During the battle, he noticed that every few seconds Cynthia would look over towards them, but would quickly advert her gaze when he tried to catch her eye. Weird, right?

After Cynthia healed Paul's pokemon, Ash and her chatted for a while, until she had to leave. That was a shame, he thought, he wanted to hear her talk more.

As he watched her leave, Ash thought to himself that he couldn't wait to see her... to challenge her himself... yeah, that's it. Honest.


	2. Dreams

**If anyone is wondering, in this story, it takes Ash roughly a year to collect all eight badges and has his birthday just before getting his eight badge, so he's 15 in the first chapter and 16 in this one and Cynthia's is in the middle of the year, so she's 19 in the first chapter, 20 in this one. She's about three years and five months older than him.**

"Well, goodnight guys!" Dawn called to her friends as she climbed into her tent to sleep. It had been a long day and our heroes were ready to rest.

Ash, Brock and Dawn were camped out in a small forest outside of Sunnyshore City, the location of Sinnoh's eight Gym and hopefully Ash's last stop on his way to the Lilley of the Valley Conference.

"Hey, Ash?" Brock asked.

"Hmmeyeahe..." Ash mumbled incoherently.

"Ash!" Brock said again.

"What? Yeah? What is it, Brock?" Ash asked, startled.

"Are you feeling okay? You're not sick, are you?" Brock asked, concerned for his friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why do ask?"

"It's just that you've been spacing out a lot lately,"

"It's nothing, I'm fine really,". Ash replied, a bit too quickly.

"Ash..."

Ash sighed. "Can't hide anything from you can I, Brock-o ?"

"Nope, I know you too well, so what's on your mind?" he asked, curious about what was causing Ash to act out of character. "Are you nervous about the Gym battle tomorrow?"

Ash sighed again and looked into the embers of the campfire. "No, that's not it, you know me, if it was the Gym battle, I'd be more excited,"

"That's true," Brock replied. "In all the time I've travelled with you, I've never seen you nervous about a battle, so what is it?"

"It's just that lately, I've kind of been having these weird dreams," Ash chuckled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head.

Now Brock was really curious. "What kind of dreams, Ash?" Could it be true? Could his little brother in all but blood be having The Dreams?

"Well, that's the problem, I don't really remember," Ash lied, averting his eyes.

"Really now?" Brock asked, clearly not believing him. "Ash, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know I just really don't remember is all!" he exclaimed.

Now it was Brock's time to sigh. "Alright Ash, but if you suddenly "remember" what these dreams are about, come talk to me, okay?"

"Okay," Ash said.

Brock went to his tent and was about to get in when Ash called out to him.

"Hey, Brock?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," Ash said with a smile.

"Not a problem," Brock smiled back.

Brock turned around again. "Hey, Ash? Has anyone ever given you The Talk?"

"The Talk?" Ash asked, confused.

"You know when a man and a woman... y'know..." he trailed off, hoping he wouldn't have to explain it to Ash.

"Oh, you mean sex, right?" Ash responded, slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh, yeah,"

"Don't worry, Mom and Professor Oak explained all that to me when I was twelve," Ash shivered at the memory.

"Must have been pretty bad, huh?" Brock's father had what you could call a unique way of teaching his sons about "The Pidgey and the Beedrill" which comprised of giving them the latest issue of "Jenny n' Joy's Jugs", a sock and some privacy, which he suspected to be the source of his fixation, and his younger brother Forest's more recent one, with the beautiful pink and blue-haired women.

"They...they used puppets...they made them say...things," he whispered.

"That must have been terrible,"

He could only nod.

"Well, goodnight, try not to stay up too late, now,"

"All right, goodnight Brock,"

"Night,"

Ash stayed up for another twenty minutes or so, idly scratching behind Pikachu's ears.

"C'mon, buddy, let's get some shut-eye, huh," he picked up Pikachu, rousing him from his slumber.

"Kyyyaaaa!" he yawned. "Pikachu pika Pika Pi?" (Why'd you wake me up, Pika Pi?)

"Because we're going to bed and I'm can't let you sleep out here by yourself."

"Chu, chu pikachu pika?" (So, looking forward to seeing your dream girl tonight?) he asked, with what seemed to be a smirk, as Ash got inside his sleeping bag with Pikachu lying on his chest.

"Oh, come on! I tell you that in confidence and you never shut up about it!"

"Pikachu, pikachu pika pika, Pika Pi!"

(Well, I just think it's adorable you dream about your potential mate, Pika Pi!)

"It's not like that!" Ash shouted, indignantly.

"Pikachu..." (Of course not...) Pikachu replied patronisingly.

"Just go back to sleep!" he grumbled wearily.

Pikachu just chuckled as they both drifted off to sleep.

Ash stood in a forest in front of a gigantic, Aztec-like pyramid stretching high into the clouds. That's how the dream always started, and he knew what he had to do next, so he began to climb.

Minutes, hours, days, might have past, he couldn't tell. He lost all sense of time, concentrating solely on getting to the top, his goal was in sight, all he needed to do was make one final push.

But he was exhausted, unable to drag himself up the final step. But an arm appeared from the edge of the pyramid's summit. "Need a hand?" the arm's owner asked. Ash reached out and grasped the arm and pulled himself up. "Took you long enough!" Cynthia smiled as she walked over to her throne and sat back down. "What took you so long?"

"Hey, it's a pretty hard climb getting up here!" he said defensively.

"Yeah, but look at that view," she gestured behind him to the huge forest, the massive mountains and the orange sun, setting behind them. "Worth it, don't you think?"

Ash never took his eyes off of Cynthia. "Yeah, definitely worth it..." he murmured. He took in what she was wearing, a translucent black robe that seemed to be made of a very fine material and not much else.

"So, what now?" Ash asked.

"Well, I think that's up to us. So why don't you sit here with me a while and we can figure it out?" She smiled mysteriously as she patted the space on the throne right next to her.

"Uh, why not, I guess?" He took a step closer and he heard a slight rumbling noise. It only got louder as he got closer. "Cynthia, what is that?" He had to shout over the growling that sounded more like a jet engine.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" she shouted back, as an oversized garchomp appeared from behind the throne. How on earth did he not notice that?

The garchomp wrapped itself around the throne and bared it's teeth to Ash. "Oh, don't mind her, she's harmless...to humans...mostly..."

"Well, that's reassuring!" he shouted.

"Ash, if it were too easy what would be the point?" She smiled that mysterious smile again. "It's lonely at the top Ash, come get me," And with that, the garchomp lunged.

Ash shot up, throwing Pikachu out of the tent. "Pika pika chu!" (What the hell!)

"Sorry, Pikachu!"

After a small dose of electroshock therapy, courtesy of Pikachu, a twitchy Ash was in Brock's tent, shaking him awake. "Brock, Brock, wake up!"

"No Jenny! Not the pepper spray!" Brock screamed.

Ash sweatdropped, even in his dreams, Brock couldn't get a girl.

"What time is it? Why'd you wake me up at..." Brock looked at his poketch. "5:30 AM?"

"You said I could talk to you at anytime, right?"

"Yeah, but by "anytime" I meant anytime between 10 and 10,"

"Oh, right, sorry to bother you, I'll let you get back to sleep," Ash apologised.

"Nah, it's fine, I'm up, what did you want to talk about?" Brock yawned.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about my dream..." Ash started, uncertainly

"Okay, omit no detail, no matter how filthy,"

And so, Ash told Brock about what he dreamt about, telling him everything.

"So, you dreamt about Cynthia, wearing a see-through robe, telling you she was lonely and that she wanted you next to her," Brock said, making sure he got the, in his mind, the key points of the dream. "And what do you think it means, Ash?" Brock asked him in a teasing tone.

"Well, I think that the pyramid represents the hard work that it takes to become a great trainer. Cynthia sitting at the top of the pyramid represents the paragon of what I think a great trainer is and who I want to be, the throne represents the Championship itself, while her garchomp represents my fears about not being good enough to take that throne from her," Which Ash thought and what any decent psychologist would assume to be a fair analysis.

But Brock was no psychologist, Brock was Brock. And Brock being Brock, slapped Ash in the face.

"What the hell was that for!" Ash exclaimed, clutching his face.

"For being an idiot and waking me up, now go back to sleep!"

A couple of years later, Ash and Cynthia discussed the topic of dreams and when Ash told her this story, Cynthia laughed and agree with Brock, but fortunately, gave him a kiss instead of a slap and said that she may have had one or two dreams about him too, but maybe not quite as innocent as his. Oh well, they still had fun acting them out.


	3. Epiphany

Ash was in his hotel room, lying down on the bed, alone except for Pikachu and his thoughts. 'I finally did it, I beat Paul, I'm in the Quarter Finals and I'm going to battle Tobias. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but it still felt a lot harder than it should have been. Why is it that I could only beat Paul now and none of those other times? What was it that was missing those times? Actually, what was missing all the times I've lost? Me and my pokemon have beaten Gym Leaders, legendary pokemon and crime bosses much stronger than Paul or Gary or any of my rivals. What am I doing wrong?' He frowned.

Pikachu, sensing his friend's emotions, nuzzled Ash's cheek. "Pikachu, Pika Pi?" (What's wrong, Pika Pi?)

"I don't know Pikachu, I just don't know," he sighed.

'Pikachu and the others have always been there for me and I just let them down over and over again. Am I just a bad trainer?'

Ash stood up and put on his hoodie. He put on his shoes and walked towards the door. "Pika Pi, pikachu chu?" (Pika Pi, where are you going?) Pikachu asked.

"I'm going out for a little while, I need to be by myself for a little while, okay, buddy?"

"Pikachu pika pika, pi?" (Just be careful, okay?)

"C'mon Pikachu, you know me!" Ash said, managing a smile.

"Pika pika pikachu," (That's why I'm worried,) he whispered, but Ash was already gone.

Pikachu frowned. The way his Pika Pi was acting had Pikachu concerned, sure he got a little down before, but that was usually when they lost. But they had won against Pika Pi's rival and something still had upset for some reason. What kind of friend was he if he couldn't figure out what was wrong with his Pika Pi? He hoped that Pika Pi found something to snap him out of his depression, if he didn't, well, Pikachu didn't want to think about it.

A half-hour later, Ash was still wandering around the small town outside of the arenas, getting deeper and deeper into his thoughts. 'It just seems that no matter how hard I try, no matter how hard we train, there always just seems to be something or someone who keeps stopping me and no matter what I can't beat them until the last minute.' He sat down on a random bench. 'Do they just think I'm not worth the effort and let their guard downand I win by luck? Maybe I shouldn't be a trainer? Maybe I should just giv...,'

"Ash Ketchum?" A familiar voice called out, pulling him out of his depressing thoughts. "It is you!"

"Cynthia?" He said, recognising the voice of the young woman he hadn't seen since the events at Spear looked as good as ever, he idly noted. The same black coat and pants, dark blue pendant around her neck, along with the strange furry collar, hair-clips shaped like a lucario's ears and long, blonde hair reaching the back of her knees and covering her left eye.

"Yes, how have you been?" She smiled.

"I'm... good, how are you?"

"I'm fine, I saw your battle with Paul today, it was good,"

"Thanks, I guess..."

Cynthia frowned slightly, but not enough for Ash to notice. She wasn't sure what is was, but the depressed look on his face just seemed so unnatural, she wanted to see him smile. Sitting down next to him, Cynthia asked, "Is something bothering you, Ash?"

"Honestly Cynthia, I don't know, I beat Paul, my biggest rival, I'm in the Quarter Finals, the furthest I've ever gotten in any League and in a couple of days, I battle Tobias, I should be happy, but..." He trailed off.

"You're not, are you?" She concluded.

He nodded in reply. "You're not sure if you can do it?"

He nodded again. "I used to feel like you do now,"

"Really?" He asked surprised.

"Of course, I wasn't always Champion, y'know? I was in the exact position you are now, scared, excited, worried, not sure if I could or even should go on,"

"Yes, that's exactly how I feel! So, what did you do about it?" He asked desperately.

It's simple all you have to do is..." She paused dramatically, letting the suspense build.

"Yeah, yeah!" He leaned forward expectantly.

"...is get some ice-cream! It usually calms me down!" Ash face-faulted, while Cynthia giggled, mentally of course.

"Come with me Ash, let me treat you to a couple of scoops,"

"I don't know, Cynthia..."

"What have you got to lose? Besides, do any idea how many guys would love to be in your position right now?" She stood up. "Come on, get some ice-cream with me and let me give you some advice, what do you say?" She wasn't sure what was compelling her to be so insistent about Ash coming with her, but something inside her was telling her to him cheer up.

"I don't see why not," he smiled, a real smile, not the one he had given Pikachu earlier. Getting up from the bench, he followed Cynthia down the street. "So where are we going?" He asked.

"Oh, don't worry you'll love it, I was actually on my way there when I saw you," After a few minutes of light conversation, they arrived at a place called Roberta's Ice-cream Emporium.

"Cynthia!" A middle-aged, brown-haired woman shouted from behind the counter. "It's been a week since I last saw you and you've gone and gotten yourself a toyboy!" Cynthia's cheeks turned slightly pink, not that Ash noticed, thankfully he was transfixed by the vast array of different flavours on display, just like she was on her first visit.

"It's not like that Roberta, he's just a competitor in the Conference and I just wanted to treat him, is all,"

"Really, in all the years you've been coming here, you've never brought a friend, I wonder what makes him so special, hmm?"

Cynthia sighed, she swore, sometimes Roberta could be worse than Bertha and her grandmother combined. Can't an older woman take a younger man for some ice-cream? To an ice-cream shop she had never brought anyone else? An ice-cream shop the older woman considered to be akin to sacred ground? An ice-cre... actually, she should just stop, she was just making it worse.

"So, what will Madam and her "special friend" be having?" Roberta asked.

"Uh, I'll have a scoop of leper berry and double chocolate with green apricorn shavings,"

"And for you, young man?"

Ash snapped out of his daze. "Oh, right, I'll have..."

"He'll have a scoop of mint and oran berry, no toppings," Cynthia said, interrupting him. Ash looked at Cynthia. "Trust me," she smiled. You see, Cynthia had an deep understanding of ice-cream, she knew all the ways a certain flavour could react to a certain topping or sauce, her knowledge of the frozen dairy product could be compared to some of Unova's greatest Connoisseurs. "You'll love it,

Ash nodded. "Alright, whatever you think is best,"

They sat at one of the shop's tables and Cynthia smiled as she watched Ash's face light up in delight as he took his first lick of his ice-cream. "This is delicious!" He exclaimed.

"I told you,"

"The flavours, they're mixing together in incredible ways, it's amazing!"

"I know, right?" she licked her own cone, "So Ash, are you going to tell me what's really bothering you?"

"I already told you, I'm just a little worried about going up against Tobias,"

"Ash, we're friends right?"

"We are?"

"We saved the fabric of reality together, I consider that quite a bonding experience," she replied.

"Yeah, I mean after the first three times it all kind of blends together, but I guess you're right, we are friends, huh?"

Cynthia laughed, that was a joke... right? "So, are you going to tell me, Ash?"

"Okay, I guess it's just that... I've been in three other Leagues and the Quarter Finals is the furthest I've ever gotten,"

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, Ash,"

"Today was the only time I've ever beaten Paul, every other time I've lost, badly, and I'm just wondering if I only won because he let his guard down,"

"Go on..." She urged.

"I... lately I've just been wondering if maybe I should just give up..."

"Give up?"

"Yeah, look at the way Tobias has destroyed his opponents with his darkrai and I don't know if I can beat him," Ash looked down at the table.

"Ash, look at me," Cynthia said sternly. Ash looked up and met her steel-coloured eyes. "I think you can do it,"

"You do?"

"Yes, Ash, I have to admit, I've done a little research on you and to be honest, I was surprised at your record, I've seen some of the videos of your Gym battles and the way you defeated them was astounding and some of your pokemon even more so. If you had used the charizard you used at the Blackthorn Gym or the glalie you used in the Hoenn League, I have no doubt you would have destroyed Paul easily, so the question is why didn't you?"

"I don't know, I suppose it's because the pokemon I caught in Sinnoh helped me get here, so I may as well go all the way with them,"

"I see, but if you lose because they aren't as experienced as some of your stronger pokemon, won't they feel as if they aren't good enough, that it's their fault?"

"Huh, I guess I never saw it that way,"

"Ash, if you use other pokemon, I think the ones you caught here would understand,"

"I suppose so, but I still have no way of getting past that darkrai,"

"Surely you have something to get past that, I think you of all people should know that legendary pokemon are beatable, you just need to find a way,"

"Yeah, I think I have just the pokemon for that Dark Void of his!" He said, suddenly feeling a lot lighter, maybe Tobias could be defeated, he just needed the right strategy and pokemon and he already had some ideas about who to use.

They had finished their ice-cream a few minutes ago. They paid Roberta, who gave Cynthia an exaggerated wink and a stage-whispered "nice catch" and made their way back onto the street.

"Cynthia, thanks for today, I really it,"

"No problem, I'm glad to help out,"

"I better get back to the hotel to pick up Pikachu and then the Pokemon Center , I need to talk to Professor Oak." Cynthia watched him leave with a smile on her face and was about to turn around to leave when she called out to him. " Hey, Ash!"

"Yeah?"

"Win."

Ash grinned. "Got it,"

And with that, they left, Ash, to his hotel and Cynthia back to her's, each with a smile on their face, each glad to have made a new friend.


	4. Battle

Ash paced the room the official told him to wait in while he waited for his battle with Tobias to begin. He felt the usual rush of feelings he had before a big battle, namely, excitement, anxiety and happiness.

It had been six days since he had ice-cream with Cynthia, during which he had a flash of inspiration and using that inspiration, he created the team he felt would be capable of taking down Tobias. He trained them into the ground, making sure they were ready for every possibility and he was confident they would come out on top. Now, he just had to wait for the official to tell him that the battle was about to start.

Meanwhile, Pikachu was observing his Pika Pi, who was pacing the floor with a small smile on his face. He didn't know what happened after Ash left the hotel, but whatever it was, Pikachu was glad. He remembered how Pika Pi had rushed into the room, scooped up Pikachu and hugged him, telling him how he discovered a way to Tobias' Darkrai. Pikachu had been slightly sceptical, but after hearing the plan, he had to admit it was simple yet genius, how had no-one thought of it before? Now, it was up to him and his five other team-mates to take down Tobias' team for his trainer/best friend.

Ash continued pacing the room, thinking back on the words of encouragement he had received. Brock reminded him that he and his pokemon had a habit of beating legendary pokemon. Dawn's small crush on Ash may have made her slightly biased, but she told him that he would win, no sweat. Professor Oak told him that while his plan was a bit of a gamble, Ash had proven that the odds were in his favour time and again. His mother simply told him that she knew he would win and to just have fun. But one voice seemed to rise above the others, a voice that said a single word, a word that told him exactly what to do and he promised himself that he would not let the owner of the voice down. "Win."

He knew that Brock and Dawn were in the stands waiting for him to walk out, but he wondered if Cynthia was watching too. He noticed on the way in, on the opposite side of the announcer's box, an executive box of some sort that Mr. Goodshow must of used to watch the battles and he wondered if maybe Cynthia was up there, waiting for his match to begin and hoping that his plan would work.

Ash shook his head, deciding that it was wishful thinking and that he should concentrate on his match, not Cynthia, no, definitely not Cynthia and most definitely not her eye, no, he turned his attention to the walls of the room, which were grey, like Cynthia's eye, except her eye was much more grey, a much greyer grey than grey, y'know? Ash shook his head again, violently, to clear his head of any thoughts that weren't of him kicking Tobias' ass.

Unfortunately for him, Pikachu noticed his head shaking, which probably would have been more at home at an Uxies concert. "Pika Pi, pikachu?" (Pika Pi, are you all right?)

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just a little impatient for the battle to start, is all,"

Impatient? That sounded more like Pika Pi. One of Pikachu's ears twitched towards the direction of the door. "Pika, pikachu chu, pika pikachu," (Well, looks like the wait is over, someone's coming,)

Another official opened the door. "Mr. Ketchum?"

"Yes?"

"Could you follow me, please? The battle is about to start."

Pikachu hopped on his shoulder as he walked out, he fingered the five pokeballs on his belt. He came to an elevator which would raise him up into the rocky field. When he heard the roar of the crowd, he thought to himself, 'I won't let you down, any of you,'

Cynthia tried to listen for the announcer to announce the beginning of Ash's battle, a difficult task seeing as half of her Elite Four were having another pointless conversation about something or other. "So, when you're about to..." Aaron, a green-haired man who appeared to be in his late teens, asked.

"Yeah, dude," Flint, a man with a red afro who looked to be around Cynthia's age, replied.

"Then you set the girl's...

"Yep!"

"On fire! Seriously?" Aaron asked, horrified.

"Seriously, then you wave your arms and shout "You don't have enough badges to train me!" Then you run out."

"Admit it, you made that up!"

"Nah, brah! 'Charizarding' look it up,"

"Bertha, what do you think about this?" Aaron asked a woman with grey hair who looked like she was in her mid-sixties.

"Charizarding, you say? The one where the man sets the woman's pubes on fire and puts it out with his jizz? Oh dearies, Michael and I invented that!"

Bertha turned to Cynthia. "Cynthia, sweetheart, what do you think of 'Charizarding'?

A man wearing a purple suit and glasses, looked up from the book in his hands. "You won't get a word out of her, she's really focused on the battle for some reason. She's not listening to a word you're saying,"

Oh, she was listening, all right, she was just trying her hardest to ignore them. Why was it, that out of all the specialist trainers in the Sinnoh region, she got stuck with someone who dressed like the world's nerdiest pimp, a guy who spoke like he quantum-leaped from the 1970s, whatever the hell Aaron was and an old lady who seemed to be a cross between Betty White and Lenny Bruce?

"Hmm, I wonder what's got her attention, I don't suppose it has something to do with what's in this magazine?" Aaron wondered.

That definitely got her attention. Her head snapped towards Aaron. "And just what magazine is that, Aaron?" She spoke with an underlying threat in her tone. It was a well-known fact among the Four that Cynthia loathed tabloid magazines with a passion. It seemed to her that no matter what she did, as the most well-known woman in the Sinnoh region, there was always someone who tried to make her out as some sort of horrible bitch.

"Uh, it's just the 'Sinnoh Shopper'," Aaron chuckled nervously.

Cynthia sighed in relief. At least that was one of the nicer ones. "Why, what does it say?" Bertha asked, knowing fully well, seeing as she showed the article to Aaron.

"I'll read it out, 'It seems there may be a new man, or rather boy, in Sinnoh's Champion, Cynthia Shirona's life. Shirona, 20, has recently been sighted in the company of Sinnoh League hopeful, Ash Ketchum, 16, in Roberta's Ice-Cream Emporium, where Shirona is often spotted. While it may simply be a case of a more experienced trainer giving some advice, the deep, meaningful look the two shared suggests otherwise. Is it possible that Cynthia, who famously, has never been romantically linked to anybody during her five-year reign as Champion, has finally found someone to tame her heart, despite the age difference?' Well, is it, Cyn-Cyn?" Aaron teased.

Cynthia felt her cheeks heat up for some reason. 'Why? It's not as if I'm embarrassed to be seen with Ash' she thought. "First of all, it's tauros crap, we just talked, had ice-cream and left, secondly, how many times have I told you not to call me Cyn-Cyn, damn it!"

"Cynthia, Aaron's just teasing, but I can understand if you want to keep your love affair with a 16-year-old a secret from the media, you wouldn't want people to know you were getting rammed by a kid," Bertha said, in her mind, at least, reassuringly. Aaron and Flint burst out laughing and Lucian sniggered.

"He isn't "ramming" me! We're friends!" Cynthia hissed. I mean the idea that she and Ash would do something like...that!

"Oh, I see, you're just fuck-buddies, then?" She nodded understandingly.

"NO!" Whenever Bertha said things like that, which was 98% of the time, it really made Cynthia want to strangle the old dear.

Just as Cynthia was about to protest that she and Ash were absolutely, positively not in a relationship, Bertha turned to the battlefield. "Oh look, I think it's starting," Bertha announced as if she hadn't just accused Cynthia of being in a carnal relationship with someone who was technically a minor.

Her anger suddenly gone, Cynthia watched Ash with a small smile on her face, which Bertha noticed, but wisely decided not to mention.

"He's confident," Lucian noted. As a psychic specialist, Lucian knew that no dark-type was unbeatable, but wondered if this Ketchum guy could pull it off.

"He's cocky, that Tobias dude is pretty tough, Cynthia's guy needs to have something special up his sleeve," Flint stated.

"He's cute," Bertha muttered, but that was more to Cynthia than the group.

"True, but he's got like, no ass," Aaron finished.

"Cynthia? Your thoughts?" Lucian asked.

"Ash'll win, I have no doubt," Cynthia said, certain that no matter what Tobias threw at him, Ash would pull through.

"This is a battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Tobias. Six on six, no substitutions." The referee announced. "Green trainer ready?" Tobias nodded. "Red trainer ready?" Ash nodded as well. "Green trainer, call out your first pokemon," Tobias took a pokeball from his belt and threw it and to the field, revealing the form of the Pitch-Black pokemon, Darkrai. "Darkrai!

"Red trainer, call out your first pokemon," Ash threw a pokeball and on the field, appeared a pokemon with sand coloured fur, large boxing glove shaped fists and a pig-like nose. "Primeape!"

Up in the stands, where Brock and Dawn were watching, "Wow, I haven't seen that Primeape in years!" Brock told Dawn.

"I didn't know Ash had a pokemon like that, where did he get it?"

"It was one of the first pokemon Ash caught, back in the Kanto region, but last I saw it, he left it to fight in the P1 Pokemon Fighting Championships. It must be pretty powerful after all these years,"

Back in the box, Flint was whooping. "What's gotten into you?" Aaron asked. "That Primeape is the four-year running champion of the P1 Pokemon Fighting Championships! I had no idea it's trainer was that Ketchum kid!"

"Is it good?"

"Good? It's great! It took on five Machamp at once and came out without a scratch!"

"Ready? Begin!"

Darkrai, use Dark Void!" Tobias called out.

"What's he doing?" Bertha asked. "He is hasn't even told Primeape to dodge, it's just standing there,"

Ash just smiled as Primeape was hit by the Dark Void and collapsed to the ground, snoring.

Tobias smirked. Now he just needed to wait for Nightmare to finish the job. But instead of Primeape writhing in pain, nothing happened. "What! Why isn't it working?"

Now it was Ash's turn to smirk. "Well, I think that for it to work, Primeape needs to be asleep. Primeape, stop messing around!"

"Primeape, prime prime primeape," (Sorry, I got bored waiting for this pansy to make a move,)

"How is Primeape still awake?" Tobias demanded.

"Simple, since you like to use Darkrai's Nightmare ability, I thought I'd use Primeape's Vital Spirit ability, which stops him from being put asleep,"

"Not bad, I thought using a pokemon's natural ability in battle was Gym Leader level?" Aaron asked.

"Not if you do your research, still, it's not general knowledge," Lucian responded.

Cynthia's smile widened. 'So that was your plan, huh? Clever, Ash, but how will you beat that Darkrai?'

"Now, Primeape, use Close Combat!" Primeape shot forward and unleashed a barrage of powerful kicks and punches on Darkrai. Darkrai flew back from the force behind the hits and crashed into the ground. It floated back into the air, trembling slightly. Tobias narrowed his eyes. It had been a long time since Darkrai took a hit like that. It had been a long time since Darkrai took a hit, period.

"Darkrai, use Dark Pulse on Primeape!"

A beam of pure darkness was fired toward Primeape who barely dodged in time. "Again!"

"Primeape, dodge again and use Ice Punch Uppercut!" Primeape rushed forward with his fist coated in ice and hit Darkrai in the chest, launching it into the air. "Now, jump up and use Thunder Punch to slam it into the ground!"

With two hands crackling with electricity, Primeape followed Darkrai, using the boulders to leap high into the air. He tried to bring both hands down on Darkrai's head, but Tobias ordered Darkrai to grab Primeape's arms. "Now, spin around and hit it with Shadow Ball!"

Primeape was struck with a sphere of pure darkness and slammed into the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

"Primeape, hit Darkrai with Karate Chop!" Primeape leapt out of the dust cloud, with his arm raised, but Tobias countered him.

"Darkrai, use Psychic to throw Primeape!" Primeape was lifted by Darkrai's telekinetic power and was launched behind Darkrai.

But Ash seemed to be expecting that.

"Primeape, Cross Chop!" Primeape brought his arms down on Darkrai's back, sending it back to the ground again.

"Darkrai, use Psychic again and slam Primeape into the ground!"

Darkrai lifted Primeape again, weakly, it struggled to hold Primeape in the air, before it collapsed, unconscious. "What! How did you...?"

"Simple. When Primeape hit Darkrai with Close Combat, he threw in a few Poison Jabs as well, fast enough so that you wouldn't notice," Ash smiled.

"Darkrai is unable to battle, green trainer, reveal your next pokemon!"

"He beat Darkrai fairly easily, but the battle is far from over," Aaron said to Cynthia and the other Elite Four.

'Not bad, Ash, you did what no-one else did, but can you keep it up?' Cynthia thought.

"Go, Latios!"

A Latios similar to the one Ash met on Alto Mare, appeared on the field, but he looked different to the one he met, instead of being blue and white with a red triangle on his chest, he was green and white with an orange triangle.

"Latios, use Luster Purge then Psychic!" A blinding flash of white light blinded Ash and Primeape. Ash blinked rapidly, only to see Primeape being launched into the air by Psychic. "Now hit it with Steel Wing!"

"Primeape counter with Ice Punch!" Ash shouted. Both attacks hit the other at the same time, but unfortunately, Primeape was already hurt from his battle with Darkrai and crashed into the ground along with Latios, who managed to stay conscious.

"Primeape is unable to battle, red trainer, reveal your next pokemon!"

"Primeape, return," Ash cursed under his breath. "You did great Primeape, with Darkrai down, this battle will be a lot easier, especially since I have the perfect pokemon for his Latios'

"Go, Glalie!

"Gla? glalie glalie gla, gla lie?" (What? My turn already? Was Mr. Primeape beaten?) Asked a pokemon that looked like a frozen cat face.

"Yep, it's up to you now, Glalie. Use Ice Beam on Latios's wings!" Glalie launched an ice white beam at Latios.

"Latios, fly up and dodge it!" Latios flew up into the air.

"Follow him and hit him with Iron Head and follow it up with Crunch on his wing!" Glalie chased after Latios and crashed into his side and latched onto his wing. "Drag him to the ground!"

"Knock Glalie off with Dragon Pulse!"

"Glalie, let go and use Blizzard!"

Before Latios could fire off Dragon Pulse, a wall of snow and ice crashed into them both. Out of the miniature snowstorm, Glalie and a frozen Latios flew through the air towards the ground. "Finish him with Dark Pulse!"

A beam of dark energy hit Latios from above speeding up his decent. An even bigger cloud of dust than the one Primeape made was formed. Glalie floated back over to Ash's side of the field and once the dust cleared up, it revealed a half-frozen Latios with swirly eyes. "Latios is unable to battle, green trainer, reveal your next pokemon!"

"He's good, maybe he can do it," Bertha said.

"He's only won on type advantage so far," Lucian responded.

"Lucian dear, you and I both know that type advantage means nothing,"

"Yes, well, we'll see,"

"Articuno!" Tobias called out a magnificent blue bird to the field.

"Another legendary!" Dawn gasped. "How many does this guy have?"

"Glalie! Glalie Glalie lie!" (Wow! I can't believe I'm floating in front of an Articuno! It's an honour, Miss Articuno!)

Glalie shouted.

'Wow, who knew Glalie was a fanboy?' Ash sweatdropped.

The Articuno cawwed in confusion. (Um, yes, thank you,)

"Articuno, use Ancient Power!" Tobias called. Huge boulders were torn out of the field and hit Glalie dead on.

"Now, use Water Pulse!"

"Dodge it and use Dark Pulse!"

"Ice Beam!"

"Match it with your own!" The two beams of icy energy fought against each other, neither appearing to be gaining the upper-hand, but Tobias, growing tired of the stalemate called out, "Blizzard!"

Another Blizzard, significantly larger than Glalie's own, engulfed Glalie, but when it cleared, instead of seeing a knocked-out Glalie, like Tobias, and most of the crowd, had been expecting, he saw Glalie, looking as if he had just enjoyed an invigorating ice-bath. "That should have taken down any pokemon, regardless of type! So why didn't it?" Tobias asked.

"That would be another one of my pokemon's abilities, Ice Body, which means instead of being hurt by ice-type moves, Glalie is healed by them," Ash answered.

Tobias gritted his teeth. This kid was keeping Articuno from using most of it's moves. He'd have to end this quickly. "Keep using Ancient Power, keep it on the defensive!"

A barrage of boulders attacked Glalie, who barely managed to avoid them. Ash had to think quickly, Glalie couldn't keep dodging forever. It would only take a couple of solid hits to take Glalie out, so this next attack needed to count "Blast through the boulders with Iron Head and hit Articuno!"

"Articuno, Water Pulse!" The blast of water struck Glalie dead-on and Glalie suddenly stopped in mid-air with a vacant look in his eyes.

'He's confused! Now Tobias had all the time he needs to take out Glalie and even us up, unless...' Ash narrowed his eyes. 'I didn't want to use this move so early, but it looks like I have no choice,'

"Glalie, use Sheer Cold!"

Tobias began to sweat, if this attack hit, Articuno was gone, he needed to take advantage of Glalie's confused state and hope that either Sheer Cold missed or this next attack hit.

"Articuno, one last Ancient Power!"

Just as a maelstrom of frost and hail hit Articuno, a boulder managed to strike Glalie. In his confused state, he was unable to dodge and was taken to the ground. "Both pokemon are unable to battle, trainers, reveal your next pokemon!"

"Glalie, return. Thanks, Glalie, I wasn't expecting you to take out two legendary pokemon, but you've surprised me. Now, take a good, long rest,"

"It looks like this battle could still go either way, but I'm putting my money on Ketchum. I mean if Cynthia has so much faith in him than he must be something special," Aaron whispered to Bertha.

Bertha smirked. "Of course he is, if he wasn't she wouldn't have that look on her face,"

Aaron looked at Cynthia and saw the almost calculating look she was giving Ash, who was throwing his next pokeball. "What's she thinking about, Bertha?"

"Oh, don't worry, dear-heart, I think we'll find out soon enough," she chuckled.

"Go, Sceptile!"

"Heatran!"

A green bi-pedal reptile with a large, tree-like tail was summoned to the field along with a four-legged pokemon, which looked like it was made of molten lava and had a metal face and feet.

"Sceptile tile, scep ?" (Are you sure this is a good idea, Ash?)

Ash chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't know he had a Heatran, just try your best to bring knock it out, okay? Now, start off with Night Slash!" Sceptile nodded.

The leaves on Sceptile's arms grew and took on a pitch-black aura as he rushed towards Heatran.

"Heatran, Earth Power," As soon as he called the move, lava erupted from the earth like mini volcanoes. Sceptile was hit by some of the lava and had to abort his attack to avoid being burnt to a crisp.

'Hmm, so it looks like a head-on approach isn't going to work, I'll have to keep this long-range,'

"Sceptile, hit it with Leaf Blade-Night Blade combo!" Now, Sceptile wasn't an idiot, he knew that with such a big, slow-looking pokemon, there had to be a good few powerful close-range attacks up it's sleeve to make up for that lack of speed. Then again, it was clearly a fire-type, which meant devastating long-range attacks too.

So, either way, unless Ash had something planned with this suicidal charge, he was screwed. But he decided to trust his trainer. The leaves on his arms grew again, taking on a more leafy look before being imbued with the essence of darkness.

He charged.

Tobias frowned, surely, Ash couldn't be planning to do the same thing that just failed? Still, he had better play it safe, he didn't want to lose another pokemon because Ketchum surprised him again. "Eart..." He started, but was interrupted by Ash's shouting.

"Cancel it and slide under Heatran, use rapid-fire Energy Ball!"

Sceptile slid across the field charging an Energy Ball, he fired a barrage of them into Heatran's steel-plated underside, doing some damage, but clearly not enough. He came out the other side of Heatran and used his Night-Leaf Blade combo.

"Heatran, Lava Plume!"

At least ten balls of lava flew towards Sceptile, who barely managed to evade them. Sure, he was Ash's fastest pokemon, but speed didn't really mean much if he couldn't land a decent hit. Ash would have to use Sceptile's most powerful move to even hope of putting a dent in Heatran. "Sceptile, Leaf Storm!"

"Magma Storm!"

Sceptile's attack was quickly swallowed up by Heatran's and knocked Sceptile out.

"Sceptile is unable to battle! Since both trainers have three remaining pokemon, we will take a ten minute break." The referee announced.

Back in their private box, Cynthia turned to the Elite Four. "So, what do you think?" It was obvious who she was talking about.

"He's not bad, he managed to find a way around Darkrai's Dark Void and easily beat it," Bertha began. "He took down Latios with no problems, although, he struggled slightly towards the end of the battle with Articuno and throughout the battle with Heatran, but his Sceptile put up a valiant effort, all in all, he's good and he'll most likely win," The rest of the Four nodded their agreement.

"Yes," Cynthia whispered to herself as she turned back to the field. "He's good, but he could be great,"

The ten minute break ended and Tobias and Ash faced each other. "Go, Heatran!"

"Go, Snorlax!" A huge green and cream pokemon was called to the field.

"Snor? Snor snorlax! Lax lax snor!" (My turn? I was asleep! You said I wouldn't have to do much!) Snorlax grumbled.

"Well, you'll just have to finish this battle quickly, then you can sleep all you like,"

"Lax, snorlax, lax," (Alright then, I'll do this quickly, I'm tired,"

"Snorlax, Focus Blast!" The attack hit dead on.

"Heatran, use Earth Power!"

"Use Thunderbolt to paralyse it!" A wicked bolt of lightning came from Snorlax's hands and struck Heatran.

Tobias swore. It looked like Snorlax had some powerful moves and both were super effective against Heatran. And if this Snorlax was like the others he met, then fire-type moves would be of little use. "Heatran, use Iron Head!"

Heatran lowered it's head and charged Snorlax, but as it drew closer, Ash ordered an Earthquake. Heatran lost it's balance and fell heavily to the ground. "Finish it with Body Slam!"

"Heatran is unable to battle, green trainer, reveal your next pokemon!"

"Raikou, Thunder Fang!" Raikou charged Snorlax and with it's superior speed, Snorlax had no time to defend.

"Use Ice Beam, Snorlax!"

"Dodge and rapid-fire Thunderbolt!" About fifteen Thunderbolts hit Snorlax one after the other and knocked Snorlax onto his back.

Snorlax pushed himself back on to his feet. "Snorlax snor..." (Now I'm angry...)

"Snorlax, Giga Impact!"

"Raikou, hit Snorlax with you own Giga Impact!"

Snorlax and Raikou charged at each other and coated themselves in a purple aura. They collided in an almighty explosion.

"Snorlax is unable to battle!" The referee announced as the dust cleared.

"Red trainer, reveal your next pokemon!"

"Snorlax, return. Great job, big guy. I think it's fair to say you deserve that rest now,"

Now they were down to their last two pokemon. Tobias had Raikou and an unknown pokemon and he had Pikachu and another pokemon, one who was arguably his strongest, who only tied in power with Pikachu, one who was itching for a good fight. "Charizard, I choose you!" A large, orange, dragon-like pokemon with a flaming tail took to the field.

"Uh-oh, Tobias is really in for it now!" Brock told Dawn.

"Wow, that Charizard looks so strong!" She replied.

"He is, he's taken down pokemon that even Pikachu couldn't beat,"

"Hot damn! Look at the power rolling off of that Charizard! It has to be even stronger than Lance's, it must be as strong as your Garchomp at least!" Flint exclaimed.

Charizard turned his head towards Ash and Pikachu. ('Sup, Ash, rodent?) He growled.

"Hey, Charizard, ready to win?" Ash asked him.

Charizard cracked his long neck. (Born ready, watch closely, rodent, you might learn something,)

"Pika, pikachu pika, chu?" (Well, Charizard hasn't changed a bit, huh?)

"Charizard, hit Raikou with Dragon Pulse while it's immobile!" Ash ordered.

Charizard opened his out and unleashed a beam of pure draconic energy. Raikou could do nothing but take it. Raikou was blown back to the edge of the battlefield and stood up.

"Raikou, hit that Charizard with Thunder Fang!"

"Fly up to dodge it!"

"Use Discharge!" Raikou let loose a field of lightning, but it wasn't enough to hit Charizard, who was high in the air. Tobias knew that, so what was he up to, Ash wondered.

"Take it back in and use it to power up Thunder!" Raikou absorbed the lightning into it's body and it shot up into the air, forming a large, black cloud, crackling with electrical energy.

"Thunder!"

"Charizard, dive bomb Raikou with Flare Blitz!" Charizard tucked in his wings and shot towards the ground, barely dodging the impossibly large bolt of lightning. Blue flames surrounded his body as he closed in on Raikou.

"Counter with Giga Impact!" The two attacks created another explosion.

"Tobias is getting desperate," Aaron said.

"Yes, if he's relying on Giga Impact to take out Charizard, despite leaving it open to another attack, he must be," Lucian agreed.

"Indeed, but that Charizard of Ketchum's seems too strong to be taken out so easily, don't you thing, Cynthia?" Bertha asked.

"Yeah..." Cynthia murmured while watching the battle, or more accurately, flicking her eye between the dust cloud and Ash's concerned face.

"He's certainly a strong trainer to raise such powerful pokemon,"

"Yeah..."

"There's definitely something about that Ketchum lad, eh, Cynthia?"

"Yeah..."

"Really soaks your panties, doesn't he?"

"Yeah... wait, WHAT? No! I'm not... I mean, I don't...!" She sighed. "Oh, shut up!"

The dust cleared, revealing both pokemon, Charizard looking almost unharmed, while Raikou panted heavily and stood with one of it's hind legs off the ground.

"Hit Raikou with Dragon Claw and follow it up with Shadow Claw!" Charizard rushed forward, clawing Raikou's side and then knocked it into the air with his other shadowy claw. Raikou flew into the air. "Now, Air Slash!" Charizard whipped his wings, creating a razor-sharp wind that seemed to rend the very air. Unable to dodge or defend, Raikou was hit full on. It hit the ground heavily and after such a devastating combo, it didn't get back up.

"Raikou is unable to battle, green trainer, reveal your final pokemon!"

"Go, Regice!" A pokemon made from ice came onto the field. "Hail!" A hailstorm started, obscuring Ash's and Charizard's view. "Now, Ice Beam!" The Ice Beam came out of the hail and struck Charizard, who normally would've shook it off, but with the hail constantly buffeting Charizard, it stung a little bit.

"Charizard, use Flamethrower!" A jet of fire came from Charizard's mouth. The heat cleared up the hail, turning it in to steam. "Flare Blitz!" Charizard's flame covered body hit Regice dead-on. Ash could almost taste victory, he just needed to pull off this next move. "Now grab it and use Blast Burn, point blank!" A mighty firestorm was summoned from the depths of Charizard and was unleashed on Regice who was swallowed up by the inferno.

When the flames cleared, Regice was knock out, lying on it's back. And that was when Ash heard the magic words. "Regice is unable to battle. The green trainer has no remaining pokemon, the winner is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

The crowd roared and Ash had to hold himself from doing a victory dance, while Flint handed Bertha a small stack of poke. Cynthia, however, came to a conclusion about what she had been thinking about since the first time she saw Ash battle. 'Yes,' she thought, with a smile on her face. 'He'll do nicely,'

The only one upset was Pikachu. "Pikachu! Pika pikachu!" (Come on! I didn't even get to fight!)

Ash chuckled. "Next time, buddy, next time,"

The next few days passed quickly for Ash. After beating Tobias in the semi-finals, he beat a trainer who's name he couldn't remember, who frankly, was only still in the League because he hadn't faced Ash or Tobias.

The next thing he knew, he was standing on a stage with Mr. Goodshow and Cynthia, surrounded by thousands of people cheering for him. Goodshow and Cynthia gave short speeches about the bonds between trainers and pokemon and how when they come together, they can accomplish anything.

Goodshow turned to Ash. "I hereby declare Ash Ketchum the winner of the 89th annual Lilley of the Valley Conference!" He shouted as Cynthia handed the large trophy to him.

"Congratulations, I told you that you could do it," she whispered.

"Thanks, for believing in me, I mean," Ash said, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

"Well, of course I did," she winked. Or at least, he thought she winked, she tilted her head slightly and kept her eye closed a bit longer than she would have if it had been a blink. "Listen, Ash, I have a proposition for you," she said, turning serious.

"A proposition? What is it, Cynthia?" He asked, confused.

"Not here. Here, take this," Cynthia took out a card from her coat and gave it to him.

He read the card. 'The Three Lakes Hotel' it read with 'Room 901' written in pen underneath. "Come to this hotel room tomorrow at around 3:30pm, I'll explain it all then,"

Ash pocketed the card. "Sure, Cynthia, I'll be there,"

"Good. Now, smile for the cameras," she told him. Ash turned back to the cameras to see Pikachu flex his arms. Cynthia and Ash laughed at his antics. "Oh, by the way, Goodshow will want to talk to you later,"

After having more pictures taken and an hour-long interview, Ash lay in his bed, wondering what tomorrow would bring, little did he know, a choice he would be given the next day would change everything.


	5. Apprentice

**Seeing as this is a series of oneshots, I'll be jumping futher down the timeline, but seeing as there are 95 chapters left, I've narrowed it down to 3 choices and I'm going to let the first reveiwer for this chapter choose.**

Ash woke up to the gentle tingling that usually accompanied one of Pikachu's Thunderbolts. Any normal person would most likely be paralysed, but after a few years of the same wake-up call, he grew used to it and anyway, since when is Ash normal? "Alright, I'm up, I'm up, already!" He grumbled, sleepily.

Pikachu jumped onto Ash's chest. (Well, it's about time! I've been shocking you for one minute, twenty-six seconds!)

"Hmm, new record," he said, mildly impressed with his achievement. Speaking of impressive achievements, it just occurred to him that the night before, he was titled first place winner of the Lilley of the Valley Conference.

Ash leapt out of bed, picked Pikachu up and swung him around. "YES! YES! WE DID IT, PiKACHU, WE DID IT!"

(Just hit you, did it?) Pikachu chuckled.

Like a tsunami, the memories of the night before flooded his mind. Beating his opponent in the finals, what was his name? Aaron? Derek? Spencer? Oh, who cares? Anyway, after that, he stood on that stage with Mr. Goodshow and Cynthia, who presented him with his trophy and gave him her hotel room number because she wanted to proposition him. Wow, that sounded weird.

And after that, Mr. Goodshow brought him to his office, not to proposition him, thankfully, but rather to give him his other prize, the one the audience and other competitors didn't know about. A huge cash prize that made Ash's eyes bulge, six small statues of the six pokemon he won the finals with, which seemed to be made of gemstones, it amazed him how they managed to make them so quickly. A topaz Pikachu, a ruby Charizard, a sapphire Heracross, an emerald Sceptile, an amethyst Muk and a diamond Glalie.

And the biggest prize, a pokeball with the standard white bottom half and a purple and red top, a masterball. A pokeball capable of catching any pokemon without fail, even legendary pokemon. And of course, the chance to take on the Elite Four and if he beat them all, the Champion herself.

After a quick shower and getting dressed, Ash heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Ash asked.

"Ash, it's us, open up!" He heard Brock's voice say.

Ash opened the door to his friends. "Morning, Brock, Dawn, what time is it?"

"Morning? It's 1:40pm!" Dawn exclaimed.

Ash turned to Pikachu. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

Pikachu shrugged his shoulders. (You looked so cute with your face half covered in spit, I didn't want to wake you.)

"Gee, thanks buddy. C'mon, let's get something to eat, I'm starved,"

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting outside of cafe, enjoying, for Ash anyway, breakfast, while Pikachu tried to consume his body weight in ketchup. "So Ash..." Brock began.

"Yeah?" He replied with a slice of bacon halfway down his neck.

"What happened to you last night? You disappeared after you got the trophy,"

"Oh, right. You see, Mr. Goodshow brought me back to his office and gave me the rest of my prize,"

"The rest of your prize?" Dawn asked.

"Yep, this," Ash said, as he took the shrunken masterball from his pocket.

"Wow! Is that..."

"A masterball? Yes, yes, it is," He replied, feeling a little bit smug.

"Do you have any idea how rare these are? Only five are made a year for Conferences,"

"Only five a year?" Dawn asked. "If they're so great, why don't they make more?"

"Well, no, a Champion or Elite Four member can request one, but it costs a fortune. And even Champions can only get two at the most," Brock explained. "Speaking of Champions, what did Cynthia say to you last night?"

"Huh?"

"Last night, she said something to you and gave you something, what was it?" Brock asked, with a slightly lecherous smile.

"Oh, she just gave me her hotel room number and she said she wanted to talk to me about something,"

Brock broke the silence. "...What?"

"She gave me her room number and said she wanted to talk to me about something," he repeated slowly.

"Yeah, right, of course. Was there money mentioned?" Brock asked urgently.

"No, why?" Ash asked, innocently.

"No reason," Was Ash really that naïve? Brock wondered.

"She said to meet her at her hotel room at 3:30pm,"

"Oh," That was fairly early, so maybe Cynthia wasn't interested in employing the 'services' of Ash. But, what else could it be then?

You would be astounded by amount of lonely, older women interested in having Ash "keep them company". They would approach Brock with large sums of money, believing him to be some sort of pimp. Of course he could never abandon his closest friend to some old persian for mere money, so Brock would gallantly offer to sacrifice his virginity in place of Ash's own. Unfortunately, that's when the money, and the women, would disappear. Thinking about such things depressed Brock.

Ignoring his anime tears and the rain-cloud that had spontaneously appeared above his head, Dawn told Ash, "Oh, by the way, your mom called, she wanted to talk to you,"

"Thanks Dawn, I should probably let her know how I am, see you later, guys,"

"Bye, I'll just wait here and make sure Brock doesn't kill himself then,"

Ash left some money to pay for the meal and headed for the Pokemon Center. A half-hour and some autographs later, he didn't think he'd ever get used to that, Ash and Pikachu arrived at the Pokemon Center.

He sat down in front of the video phone with Pikachu on his shoulder and called his mother in Pallet Town. She answered after just the first ring with a stern face. "Ash Ketchum! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to call me? Why are you up so late?" Delia shouted.

"Uh, sorry, Mom, I overslept a bit,"

Delia sighed. "Don't apologise, I'm just happy you're alright," She smiled at Ash, "So, congratulations, how do you feel?"

"I feel pretty fantastic actually, financially, I'm set for the next few years, I've done what I've wanted to do since I became a trainer and I'm beginning to realise what I've been missing all this time,"

"That's wonderful, honey, so when will you be home?"

"I'll be back in a few days or so, there's still some things I need to take care of here," he told her.

"Like what?" She asked, curiously.

"Oh, it's nothing really, it's just that someone wanted to see me, something about a proposition,"

Delia's eyes widen slightly. "Ash, sweetie, I understand that there are times when money is tight on a trainer's journey and they have to do things they aren't proud of, personally, I never had to do anything like that and I can't say I'm happy that you're using your body but I'm glad that you haven't resorted to pimping out Dawn,"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Ash asked, mystified.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all!" She laughed nervously. "So who propositioned you, exactly, and for what, Ash?"

"It was Cynthia Shirona, the Champion of Sinnoh. What she wants to talk to me about something, what that something is exactly, I have no idea,"

"Ah, yes, that girl who gave you the trophy..." Ash might have imagined it, but he could have sworn he heard something almost dangerous in his mother's voice when she said 'girl'.

"Well, I better go, I have to meet up with her soon and I don't know where her hotel is, so who knows how long it might take me to find it, love you, bye,"

"I love you, too, honey. Remember, I'm proud of you, and you too, Pikachu,"

"Thanks, Mom, bye," (Bye!)

Ash walked over to the Nurse Joy's desk. "Excuse me, Nurse Joy?"

"Yes, how can I help you?" Nurse Joy smiled benevolently.

"I was hoping that you help me find the Three Lakes Hotel, do you know where it is?"

"The Three Lakes Hotel? It's on the other side of town, it's the biggest building there, it's impossible to miss,"

"Thank you, Nurse Joy,"

"It's not a problem, Mr. Ketchum," she replied.

Ash was about to walk away, but he turned back toward Nurse Joy. "Wait, you know my name?" He asked.

"Oh, a lot of people know your name, Mr. Ketchum," she said with a slight blush, barely noticeable against her pink hair. Ash turned around again and left the Pokemon Center, intent on finding Cynthia and finding out exactly what her proposition was.

Meanwhile, as Ash was wandering around, hopelessly lost, Cynthia was in her penthouse suite, re-reading the file she got from Lance's G-men on Ash.

Name: Ashton B. Ketchum

'Hmm, I wonder what the B stands for,' she thought, her natural curiosity making itself known.

Date of Birth: 25th of November

'So, his birthday is only two months after mine,' Cynthia wasn't sure why she found that notable.

Age: 16

Place of Birth: Pallet Town, Kanto

'Pallet Town? Oh, yeah, I remember going there once with Grandma, it's a lot like Celestic Town, except near it's the ocean rather than in the mountains and it doesn't have a Pokemon Center,'

Known Pokemon: Pikachu, Charizard, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Totodile, Bayleef, Heracross, Noctowl, Sceptile, Snorlax, Glalie, Infernape, Swellow, Staraptor, Etc.

'It'll be hard to train so many pokemon equally, which is why I only have twelve myself, but we'll work on that, I suppose,'

Known Accomplishments: Stopped many Team Rocket plots in Kanto and Johto, Team Magma and Aqua plots in Hoenn, including helping Lance, and Team Galactic plots in Sinnoh. Involved in many incidents involving legendary pokemon.

'To be able to stop so many criminal organisations and he started when he was only ten, too.' She thought, impressed with his ability to mess up villainous plots. And there was yet another interesting thing about Ash Ketchum. 'So, it wasn't just Spear Pillar, then? Most people go their whole lives without even glimpsing a legendary, but Ash seems to have a way of getting caught up in "interesting" situations, if what happened with Palkia and Dialga is anything to go by,' Growing up on stories about the legendary pokemon of Sinnoh and the other regions, it had always be a dream of hers to see one, a dream that had been fulfilled because of Ash and his friends.

Her reading was interrupted by the sound of splashing from the bathroom. "Milotic, Gastrodon, stop making so much noise, I'm trying to read!" She shouted.

(Sorry, Cynthia,) (Sorry,) They called out in their respective languages.

Cynthia sighed 'Those two are always the same whenever there's a hot tub around,'

She looked back at the file on the large desk she was sitting at and was about to begin reading again, but the file was caught be the wind created by her Braviary and Togekiss, who decided it would be a great idea to race around the house sized penthouse.

The papers scattered around the floor. Cynthia sighed. 'Oh, well, it's not like I haven't read about ten times already,' She was pretty sure she could recite the facts of Ash's career as a trainer by heart. She had all the information she needed to come to a decision.

And she had, of course. She had been thinking about it for a while, but seeing Ash beat Tobias finalised her decision and she would give him her offer...as soon as he showed up, of course. She did say 3:30pm, didn't she?

She decided to watch a movie to pass the time. Sitting down on a couch, she flicked through the channels on the room's ridiculously large television. Oh, 'Luvdisc, Actually' was on, one of her favourites.

Cynthia Shirona had quite a few secrets, her hidden love of romantic comedies for one, another was the reason why she wore black clothes almost all of the time, which hopefully no-one would ever find out, seeing as she tried to destroy all photographic evidence, another was the fact that when she was thirteen, she stole one of her Grandma's "romance" novels and read it cover to cover. She couldn't look her Grandma in the eye for a month afterwards, or anyone else for that matter, without turning red and her biggest secret, the true reason why she and her sister lived with her grandparents when they were younger.

A shadowy presence formed on the couch next to Cynthia. "Hey, Spiritomb," she said to the pokemon that seemed to be wickedness incarnate.

(Greetings, if we may say, we believe that the Mistress is rather eager for the arrival of her guest,) it said through it's psychic power.

Cynthia laughed. The only one who was worse than Spiritomb with the whole "Mistress" thing was her Lucario, who somehow managed to work it into every sentence.

"I guess you could say that I'm a little bit impatient, I wonder where he is? Maybe he's caught up by fans?" Cynthia remembered when she won the Lilley of the Valley Conference, she was hounded for autographs, photos, training tips and more disturbingly, her hand in marriage, which was kind of scary, seeing as she was fifteen at the time. It only got worse when she became Champion three weeks later.

(Mistress, we sense your guest coming, he is near,)

"Ah, good, I was wondering when he would show up," Crossing across the room to an armchair that faced the door, she sat down and quietly called Lucario and Garchomp out of their pokeballs. "Spiritomb, on my left, Lucario, my right, Garchomp, get behind me," Cynthia smirked. A little intimidation never hurt anyone.

Ash checked the room number on the card against the door. 'Room 901, this is it. Penthouse, huh?'

(Should we knock?) Pikachu asked.

"I suppose..." Ash raised his hand to the door, but heard Cynthia's voice from behind it. "Door's open, come in, Ash," The door opened with Spiritomb's Psychic, not that Ash knew that. 'How did she know I was outside?' He wondered.

Ash and Pikachu walked through the door to see an imposing sight. The room was dark, the curtains drawn, the only light coming from a lamp near the armchair Cynthia was sitting in, that cast light over Cynthia and three of her pokemon ominously.

A lucario stood by the chair, it's red eyes and spikes glinting, a spiritomb rested on the arm of the chair that seemed to be giggling to itself as it thought about the best way to inflict harm on Pikachu and Ash. And something else, something big that stood behind the chair in the shadows, just out of the light, growling. "You're late," Cynthia stated, in a voice devoid of emotion.

"Yeah, sorry, we got a bit lost," he said sheepishly.

"I see," she replied in the same tone.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked, nervously.

"Yes," Cynthia was glad that the lamp cast a shadow over her face, or else Ash would see her struggle to contain her laughter. There was nothing like inspiring fear, Cynthia thought, it was part of the reason for her black clothes. She gestured to the chair near her own. "Sit,"

Ash sat in the chair in front of Cynthia. "So... What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Straight to the point, good. What I want to talk to you about... is you, Ash," Cynthia said, leaning forward slightly into the light.

"Me?" Ash asked, surprised. Pikachu was equally surprised. (Pika Pi?) He asked as he tilted his head.

"Ash, tell me why you think you won against Tobias,"

A part of Ash wanted to play it off as if it was nothing and say he was just awesome like that, but he realised it would be better to be honest. "It was because Tobias relied too much on Darkrai to win his battles, so his other pokemon got rusty. All pokemon, even legendary pokemon need practice to keep their skills up. If he trained them properly, it would have been a lot harder,"

'Well, he's modest,' she thought. "Yes and no, while it's true Tobias' pokemon were under trained, he was also overconfident, he went in to the battle expecting to win, that's why he lost,"

'So he did underestimate me,' Ash thought as he clenched his fists. "So we won because he thought we were weak?" He asked bitterly.

"No, you won because you were the better trainer with the stronger pokemon," she said, using the same stern tone she used the week before. "A good trainer would have trained all of their pokemon equally, but Tobias only focused on Darkrai because he thought it was a sure thing and he and his pokemon suffered for it. A good trainer also would have trained their pokemon for every situation, like you did, but when Tobias' Articuno came against your Glalie, he just spammed Ancient Power. You won because you are better, not because Tobias thought little of you. You're a good trainer, Ash, and you deserved to win the Conference. What you need to ask yourself is, is good good enough?"

"What do you mean, Cynthia?"

"What I mean is, you're good, but you can be great, you have the potential to be one of the best trainers there is. With the right training and guidance, I see you as a champion in three to four years,"

"Really? You think I could be a champion? Me?"

"I'm not easily impressed Ash, but you've done it. Personally, I believe you can do anything you want and I want to be the one who helps you achieve it,"

"You mean..." This couldn't be, Cynthia, the Cynthia Shirona, the strongest of the five Champions, was willing to help him become a Champion himself?

"Yes Ash, I want to take you on as my apprentice, with your talent, I believe you could be just as strong as I am. But I want to know," Cynthia held her hand out to him, "are you willing to take that first step on the path to greatness?"

Ash thought about it. He was in a situation he never expected to be in. Cynthia was pretty much offering him the chance to be a Champion, something he wanted to be since he was little. But despite being a little dense at times, he wasn't an idiot. "What's the catch?"

Cynthia tilted her head and smiled. "No catch. You just let me put you and your pokemon through so much physical, mental and emotional trauma that you beg me to end you pathetic little lives,"

(Oh, is that all? Pika Pi, let's get out of here, this torchic's crazy!)

"This sounds like a lot of hard work..."

"Of course it is, if it were too easy, what would be the point?"

Ash was sure he heard that somewhere before, but couldn't remember where. Regardless, it was that phrase that sealed his future. "So, Ashton Benedict Ketchum, will you accept my offer and become my apprentice?"

"That's not my midd..."

"Not the important," she interrupted. "Do you accept?"

"Yes. Cynthia, I accept," he said, holding his hand out to shake hers.

Cynthia's smile widened. "I'm glad Ash." She stood up, recalled her pokemon and walked towards the door. "And to celebrate you can treat me to ice-cream,"

An hour later, Ash learned to NEVER treat Cynthia to anything, especially her most favourite thing in the world. He was lucky he didn't keep his winnings in his wallet or else he was sure Cynthia would have kept him paying for her until closing time.

After mourning his wallet, he and Cynthia walked to his hotel. As they walked she went into more detail about his apprenticeship. "I suppose that you'll want to go home for a while, catch up with your family and such. So, in three weeks I want you to meet me at Sunnyshore Docks, I want you to bring everything you'll need, clothes and stuff like that and all of your pokemon. It will be tougher to train all of your pokemon equally, but I'll devise a training regime to suit all of them. And then I'll create one for you,"

"A training programme for me?" Ash asked surprised.

"Of course, I've found that the best way to train your pokemon is to train with them, to put as much blood, sweat and tears in as they do. Why do you think I can eat so much ice-cream and still look good?"

"I just sort of thought you looked that good naturally,"

Cynthia laughed. "You're sweet, but no, hours of exercise and I've got the abs to prove it!"

Not for the first time, Ash wondered just what Cynthia was hiding under that coat of hers.

They approached the entrance of Ash's hotel. "So remember, Sunnyshore Docks, three weeks, bring what you need and of course, you're pokemon. I'll see you then, my apprentice," she smiled.

"I'll see you then, Mistress Cynthia," Ash replied, playing along.

Cynthia walked away as Ash walked back into his hotel. 'Mistress Cynthia? Kinda has a ring to it,' she thought to herself, with a slight blush on her cheeks.

A few weeks later, Ash was leaving his house in Pallet Town, he spent the last two weeks relaxing, the first week he made a quick trip to Saffron City, the Veridian Forest, the Orange Islands and Mt. Silver. He hugged his mother, who gave him words of encouragement and a reminder to change his underwear.

"Well, Pikachu," he said to his long time partner and friend. "Looks like this is the start of our biggest adventure yet!"

(C'mon, don't want to keep your mate waiting!) Pikachu exclaimed as he jumped off of Ash's shoulder and ran towards Pallet Town Harbour.

"Arggh... You little!" Ash growled in mock annoyance and began to sprint after Pikachu down the path to the harbour, the path to Championship and although he didn't know it, the path to love.


End file.
